The two parties are not mirror images of each other. The Democrats can’t raise money for the DNC but individual candidates and the DSCC and DCCC are performing very well. Meanwhile, the president is raising a ton of money for the RNC, but the NRSC and NRCC are struggling mightily, and many of their most vulnerable incumbents are being outraised by the their Democratic challengers.
The Democrats’ problems are a hangover from the primaries and the contested race for a new DNC chief. There is plenty of blame to spread around for this, including from the Russians who fanned the flames of disunity with their release of hacked emails around the time of the Democratic National Convention. Of course, their active measure against the American left wouldn’t be as effective if their weren’t real embarrassing revelations involved. The best propaganda has an element of truth to it, and that was true all throughout the Cold War. Still, Democrats should be self-aware enough to be wary of doing the Russians’ work for them by perpetuating bad blood from 2016.
The Republicans’ problem is a predictable one. Trump is in only in it for himself, so he raises a lot of money for the organ responsible for helping him get reelected but actively suppresses his base’s interest in donating to the congressional fundraising arms.
In general, the Dems get the better end of this because the midterm elections will turn much more on what the congressional organizations do than on what the RNC and DNC do, so the Republicans should be very upset.
“House Republicans are growing increasingly alarmed that some of their most vulnerable members aren’t doing the necessary legwork to protect themselves from an emerging Democratic tidal wave. In some of the biggest media markets, where blockbuster fundraising is a prerequisite for political survival—most notably in New York City, Los Angeles, and Houston—Republican lawmakers aren’t raising enough money to run aggressive campaigns against up-and-coming Democrats.”
“Of the 53 House Republicans facing competitive races, according to Cook Political Report ratings, a whopping 21 have been outraised by at least one Democratic opponent in the just-completed fundraising quarter. That’s a stunningly high number this early in the cycle, one that illustrates just how favorable the political environment is for House Democrats.”
Trump is definitely making a major contribution to the problem here, which is why I contested Steve M.’s analysis last week.
